Safety means for leaving doors ajar



Dec. 15, 1953 c. P. KESSLER SAFETY MEANS FOR LEAVING DOORS AJAR Filed May 25, 1950 A TTOIQ/VEX Patented Dec, 15, 1953 srr s ears 1 Claim.

1 This invention relates to new and useful im provements in safety means in connection with leaving a door ajar, and may be equally applicable to windows, etc., and it has for its object to provide a device that will prove sturdy in use, and capable of resisting all attempts to disengage the chain holding said door ajar, or loosening, or unscrewing the mechanism attached to the frame of a door and to which mechanism one end of the chain is secured, while the other end of said chain is made to engage means arranged upon the door proper and adapted to receive said chain in such a manher as to make it impossible to disconnect the chain from said door.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists of the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, and in which similar characters of reference indicate correspond ing parts in all views, and in which- Figure l is a side elevational view of my device connected to a door and its frame.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of my said device.

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 33 in Figure 1; while Figure 4 is a view taken on the line a -d in Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral it indicates a chain for securing a door i I to a frame i2, when said door is left ajar a predetermined distance.

A member if, fixedly attached to the frame 12, is detachably provided with a shank It terminating in an eyebolt It, to which the chain it i permanently secured.

The member it comprises, as shown in Figure 4, a bottom plate It fixedly secured to the frame [2 in any suitable manner, such, for instance, as by screws. The said plate is is at its center formed with an upwardly extending peripheral flange it adapted to receive wthin the latter a nut Il, as said flange i6 surrounds said nut it and is bent over the edge of the latter so as to secure said nut solidly in place. The nut if has a threaded aperture is in the center thereof adapted to receive and engage the correspondingly threaded shank It, which terminates in the aforementioned eyebolt M.

A face plate as of a shape to embrace said nut ll and flange it, is mounted upon the bottom plate it, before insertion of the shank It and secured to said bottom plate and the door frame 12 by screws 22, as shown in Figure 2.

The said face plate at has upwardly extending lips 42 snugly engaging the sides of the shank i9, whereby to prevent the latter with its eyebolt It from turning, and at the same time securing said shank in its threaded position; the said shank l9 and eyebolt it are also adapted to receive the ring 25 of the chain is, when the latter is not in use.

It will thus appear through the aforesaid arrangement, that with the chain fastened to the door and frame, it will be impossible to unscrew the member it, or the shank it, because, as to the latter, any attempt to unscrew said shank would be prevented by the lips 32, while at the same time the chain would twist around said shank, and thus tend to close the door.

A plate 23 is attached to the door l i by screws 24 and, if desired, rivets ti. An elongated corrugated hook 25, shown herein of a substantially rectangular shape, is formed integral with the plate 23; said hook is formed with an extended curvature in the bending thereof, as shown at 3-6 in Figure 2, in order to avoid an abrupt bending of said hook at the very edge of the plate 23, which would tend to weaken the strength of the hook.

The hook 25 is adapted to receive a ringmember 2% at the end of the chain it, thus permitting a door to be left securely ajar, as it is understood that the chain is of such limited length, as not to permit anybody to disengage the ring-member from the hook 25, due to the length of the latter; such disengagement of the ring-member from the hook may only be accomplished, when the door is actually, or nearly shut.

In order, when the door is left ajar by means of the chain is, to secure said door in a fixed position, an elongated bar 2?, terminating in a hook 258, is pivotally secured by means of a screwbolt 32 to an outwardly and upwardly extending projection 3! formed on the plate 23. The hook 2 8 of the said bar fl is adapted to engage an eyelet 29 formed in an upwardly extending portion as integral with the face plate 20.

The proposed use of said bar 27 has been indicated in dotted lines.

When not in use, the bar 2? may be swung into neutral, or resting position, to be thus held by the lug 35 formed integral with the plate 23.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts, as shown, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, wish to 3 limit myself to the exact construction shown and described herein.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

In a device of the class described, means for attaching a safety chain to a door frame, comprising a bottom plate having an opening therethrough terminating in a non-circular enlarged recess in the bottom of said plate, a nut fitted within said recess and being held in position therein, said nut having a threaded aperture, a face plate embracing the top and sides of said bottom plate, an eyebolt having a shank threaded in said aperture, said face plate being formed with upwardly extending lips engaging the sides of the eye of said eyebolt, whereby to prevent the latter from turning, and means for securing said bottom plate to said door frame.

' CHARLES P. KESSLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 464,079 Painter Dec. 1, 1891 718,744 White Jan. 20, 1903 10 1,066,315 Pietrzak July 1, 1913 1 ,311,011 Rosencranz July 22, 1919 2,264,669 Kessler Dec. 2, 19%1 FOREIGN PATENTS 15 Number Country Date 9,223 Great Britain Nov, 13, 1897 

